Neither Is Right
by Martial Arts Master
Summary: Ash and friends meet Nathan and Valerie, two trainers with opposing views on which Pokemon are the best. It takes battles to teach them that neither of them is right. Please review!


Neither Is Right  
by Martial Arts Master  
Pokemon and all related characters are copyrighted by Nintendo, Game Freak, Creatures Inc., Satoshi Tajiri, and Wizards of the Coast. This fic takes place after the "Fighting Flyer With Fire" episode. Now let's get on with the story!  
  
***  
  
It was nighttime, and Ash and his friends were resting in a hotel in Violet City. Ash and Brock were in a room adjacent to Misty's room. Ash was admiring his Zephyr Badge.  
"I can't believe I won a Zephyr Badge!" Ash exclaimed.  
"Well, you sure earned it," Brock replied. "Although that wasn't too hard since Falkner was so predictable as to have his Pidgeot keep attacking from the same direction."  
"Yeah, and if all the gym leaders are that predictable, I'll get all the badges easily!" Ash said.  
"I wouldn't count on that, Ash," Brock said. "Falkner's the first gym leader for a reason. He's probably the easiest one to beat. You should expect the others to be a lot tougher."  
"I wonder what Pokemon types they use..." Ash pondered.  
"I dunno, but they probably train different types of Pokemon than the ones the Indigo League gym leaders train," Brock replied.  
"Wait a minute," Ash said, holding up a hand. "Do you hear something?"  
Brock listened for a minute. It wasn't very loud, but he could hear two voices arguing with each other in the room above theirs.  
"Yeah, I hear it," Brock said. "I can't make out what they're saying, though."  
"Maybe we should ask them what's going on," Ash said. "If they keep arguing, we won't be able to get to sleep."  
  
A minute later, Ash and Brock were knocking on the door to the room above them. A boy and a girl opened the door. The boy had long brown hair, and he was wearing a white T-shirt with green pants. The girl had long blond hair, and she was wearing a black T-shirt with orange pants.  
"What's the matter?" the boy asked.  
"Could you keep it down, please?" Ash asked. "We're in the room below you, and your arguing is keeping us awake!"  
"Well, we wouldn't BE arguing if Nathan here wasn't so stubborn!" the girl replied.  
Nathan turned to her and said, "Valerie, YOU'RE the one who's stubborn!"  
"Am not!" Valerie said.  
"Are too!" Nathan said.  
This went on for some time. Ash whispered to Brock, "Maybe we should do something about whatever their problem is."  
"I agree," Brock whispered back.  
Brock turned to Nathan and Valerie and said, "Look, if you two will stop arguing and let us get to sleep, you can tell us about your problem in the morning."  
Both Nathan and Valerie thought for a moment.  
"That seems fair," they finally said.  
  
In the morning...  
  
Ash, Brock, Nathan, and Valerie were sitting in the lobby. Misty was there, too, after Ash and Brock insisted.  
"So why were you too having such a heated argument last night?" Misty asked.  
"Well, me and Valerie are brother and sister," Nathan said. "We became Pokemon trainers a short while ago."  
"We started right here in Violet City," Valerie said, "where you can start out with any non-evolved part Flying type Pokemon barring the Legendary Birds."  
"I started out with a HootHoot, and Valerie here started out with a Pidgey," Nathan said.  
"The reason we argued was that unlike Nathan here, I'm wise enough to realize that cute Pokemon are the best because they make great pets!"  
"Yeah right," Nathan said. "Unlike Valerie here, I'm smarter than that. I happen to know that the best Pokemon are the ones who do best in battle."  
"So basically, you two can't agree on which Pokemon are better because you judge Pokemon differently," Brock said.  
"That's right," both said.  
"We even tried battling each other, but it resulted in a draw," Valerie said.  
"So, who do you agree with?" Nathan asked.  
"I happen to think that how a Pokemon does in battle shouldn't be how you judge Pokemon," Misty said.  
Valerie stuck her tongue out at Nathan.  
"But if you judge Pokemon by their appearance, you might as well be judging a beauty contest," Ash said.  
Nathan smirked at Valerie.  
Brock was in deep thought. In fact, he sat their for 5 minutes thinking.  
Finally he said, "I think neither one of you is right. Pokemon should not be judged by appearance OR by how good they are in battle. They should be judged individually by how well trainers raise them."  
"I'd have to agree with that," Ash said.  
"No complaints there," Misty said.  
"You're wrong!" Valerie said. "Pokemon can't make great pets if they aren't cute! They'd be too scary!"  
"If a Pokemon isn't a good Pokemon it doesn't matter how well you raise it!" Nathan said.  
"Ok, how about proving it?" Ash said. "Valerie, I challenge you to a match!"  
"Yeah! Nathan, how about proving your theory in a battle? If you're not afraid, that is!" Misty taunted Nathan.  
"Fine!" both of the other trainers shouted.  
  
Later, in a clearing outside Violet City...  
  
Ash and Valerie were standing at opposite sides of the clearing, with Misty and Nathan watching them. Brock was acting as the referee.  
"The first match will be Ash against Valerie!" Brock declared. "Each trainer may use only one Pokemon. Trainers, send out your Pokemon now!"  
"Ok, Valerie, since you're a rookie I'll use my weakest Pokemon!" Ash said.  
He threw one of his Poke Balls, and Chikorita came out. Chikorita briefly rubbed up against Ash's leg because of its crush on him, then turned to face Valerie.  
"A Chikorita?" Valerie asked skeptically. "Grass types are weak against Flying types! Go, Pidgey!"  
Valerie threw a Poke Ball, and a Pidgey came out.  
"Considering how you think Pokemon are just pets, this should be easy!" Ash said.  
"Wanna bet?" Valerie retorted. "Pidgey, Tackle attack!"  
Pidgey flew at Chikorita headfirst.  
"Chikorita, fight its Tackle with your Tackle!" Ash commanded.  
Chikorita and Pidgey tackled each other, and neither seemed to be the worse for wear.  
"Pidgey, Tackle it again!" Valerie said.  
"Chikorita, Body Slam!" Ash shouted.  
Pidgey flew in to tackle Chikorita again, but this time Chikorita did its Body Slam, belly-flopping on Pidgey and slamming it into the ground.  
"Oh no, Pidgey!" Valerie cried.  
"Are you ready to give up yet?" Ash asked.  
"Never!" Valerie shouted. "Pidgey, Mirror Move!"  
Pidgey did Chikorita's Body Slam, but Chikorita jumped out of the way.  
"Chikorita, finish it off with Poisonpowder!" Ash said.  
Chikorita swirled its leaf a bit, and a purple powder sprayed out. Pidgey flew up, but not nearly high enough, and the next thing Valerie knew, her Pidgey lay on the ground, having fainted from poison.  
"Pidgey, return!" Valerie said, recalling Pidgey. She looked sad.  
"Now do you see?" Ash asked. "You raised Pidgey to be nothing more than a pet, so it couldn't move around NEARLY well enough to stand a chance in battle."  
Valerie sighed.  
"I guess you're right," she said.  
  
This time Misty stood facing Nathan, with Ash and Valerie on the sidelines.  
"The next match is Misty versus Nathan!" Brock declared. "Trainers, send out your Pokemon!"  
"Poliwag, I choose you!" Misty said, sending out Poliwag.  
"HootHoot, go!" Nathan said, throwing a Poke Ball. A HootHoot came out of it. But this HootHoot looked a bit tired.  
"That HootHoot doesn't look like it's in good shape," Misty said. "Are you sure you wanna battle with it?"  
"Of course I'm sure!" Nathan said. "HootHoot, Peck attack!"  
"Poliwag, Doubleslap attack!" Misty said.  
HootHoot flew at Poliwag and tried to peck it, only to have its face repeatedly slapped by Poliwag's tail.  
"Come on, HootHoot!" Nathan said. "Fight back with your Hypnosis!"  
"Poliwag, use your own Hypnosis!" Misty said.  
Both Pokemon's eyes started to glow. After a while, HootHoot fell asleep.  
"Aw man," Nathan said, recalling HootHoot. "How come I lost?"  
"You only care about winning battles, so you put your HootHoot in too many battles without resting it! When was the last time you took it to a Pokemon center, anyway?" Misty asked.  
"About a week ago," Nathan admitted. "Ok, ok, so maybe I've been giving too much attention to battles and not enough to HootHoot."  
"Took you long enough to learn that," Misty said.  
  
Later, Ash and company left Violet City, with Valerie and Nathan seeing them off with a wave.  
  
The End  
  
***  
  
E-mail all questions and comments to bleifer@msn.com. 


End file.
